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Michael Burns said life without his mother has been difficult. He said that with his father away a lot for work, his mother took on the role of both parents and was always there for him and his four younger sisters.

"Just shock," Michael Burns said. "I was in a state of shock. I thought it was a dream that I couldn't wake up from."

Michael Burns was 15 years old in 2009 when he walked into his mother's bedroom and found her lifeless body.

"I couldn't even believe it," he said. "It was really tough getting that image out of my head. It's still there."

The school nurse and mother of five was described as devoted to her children. The night of her death, two of her children and some of their friends were sleeping in a nearby room.

Michael Burns said he never heard a thing.

"We all slept in that morning," he said. "There were no crazy plans, but definitely we were going to bring her breakfast in bed."

The case remains open, and there have been no suspects named.

Michael Burns said that he has tried to be the strong one and has been protective of his four younger sisters.

"They would come to me with questions, and the only thing I could do was just tell them to hang in there, be strong and hopefully justice will be concluded," he said.

He said he never thought his mother's killing would go unsolved for so long. He still lives in Wolfeboro, while his sisters are living with relatives in Massachusetts.

Michael Burns said the girls are active in sports and doing well in school. He said they don't talk often about losing their mother, but holidays and special occasions are particularly difficult.

"We will all just join hands and cry together and just pray for answers," he said.

Without those answers, he said, the healing process really hasn't started.

"Justice would definitely cleanse the heart a little bit," he said. "It won't bring her back, but it will put someone that's well deserved of being in jail in jail."

Michael Burns wouldn't say if he has a suspect in mind. He addresses what he said has been speculation about his father.

"I know my mom and dad would get into arguments now and then, but my dad would never touch my mother like that," he said.

Stacey Burns and her husband, Ed Burns, were going through a difficult divorce. Much of it was documented in her own words in court paperwork.

Her husband was never named a suspect or person of interest. After Stacey Burns' death, the children continued living in their Wolfeboro home, and their father moved back in. They stayed there for a year.

"Through that year, every night, I would go through the house and double lock everything," Michael Burns said. "My dad put in lights all around, sensor lights. We were on lockdown."

The house on Main Street now sits vacant after it was lost to foreclosure.

"No one has bought it or tried to fix it up, and I guess there's a reason for that," Michael Burns said.

He said it's tough to look at the empty house now. He said his mother had many friends in Wolfeboro, and the house used to be filled with people.

Michael Burns said his mother got to enjoy a movie and ice cream with them right before she died.

"I said good night," he said. "I am glad I gave her a hug and a kiss that night. I just never thought it would be the last time I ever got to hug my mother."

Michael Burns now works at a restaurant less than a mile from the old family home. He went to college for a year but has since left. He hopes to start classes again in the fall.

He said he chooses to say in the lakefront town because of the support his family received from the community and because he shared so many wonderful memories there with his mother.

"I just wish I could have it back," he said. "I wish I could have the first 15 years of my life back. I wish I could have her back."

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeff Strelzin is working on the case. He said there is nothing his office can release publicly, but he said the case isn't considered cold and it's being actively worked on.